Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an Action role-playing game announced by RavenSoft and Activision for Fall 2006. The companies said the game, previously referred to as Marvel Legends, features over 20 playable characters and more than 140 cameo appearances. a 2009 sequel called Marvel Ultimate alliance 2 was released 3 years later.

Contents

Story

Dr. Doom has formed a new Masters of Evil in order to steal Odin's power. They then launch an attack on a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. Nick Fury sends out a distress call to all available meta-humans. Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man and Wolverine respond and proceed to eliminate Doom's forces. The heroes then travel to various locations in order to stop Doom's plan and, of course, save the world.

Features

Gameplay

The game will have over 140 characters from the Marvel Universe appear. Players will be able to create teams, and have online and co-operative play, for up to 4 players. In co-operative mode players will have to fight for the most kills in order to get the experience points at the end of the level. Unlike X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, in which players can only play danger rooms that have been unlocked or single player progress, players can now play through the whole level from start to finish. There will also be special comic book missions, revisiting a moment in a character's past and facing a classic arch rival. Characters will have four skins, which can alter stats of the character, as well as unique controllable powers

Players will fight in mid air, underwater and on the ground, with fully destructable and interactive environments in over 17+ locations, travelling around the Earth and universe back and forth by the end of the game. The game will have alternative endings, affected by the decisions the player(s) make.

There will be exclusive characters for the PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Versions

The game is due to be released for 6th and 7th generation consoles, as well as the PC. The graphical engine and looks will differ between the various platforms. For the 6th gen consoles, characters models will be similar to X-Men Legends: cel-shaded and almost cartoonish. The 7th generation versions will feature more detailed character models and environments. The PC version will vary depending on the customization of a user's settings, though at the best settings, the graphics will be at least par with the 7th generation versions. The PC version will also feature "intuitive mouse controls". [1]

Gold Edition

Xbox 360 Gold Edition

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance: Gold Edition has all 8 downloadable heroes and villains for the Xbox 360: Cyclops, Dr. Doom, Hawkeye, Hulk, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Sabretooth and Venom. It is currently available in the U.S. and Canada. The content is also available for download on Xbox live. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance: Gold Edition was released May 29, 2007

GBA

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance's graphics will be reduced to a lower graphics quality for the GBA version.

Just like the other versions, players can switch between any character during the game. Players can also create their own team involving only 3 characters. Also, some characters will not be available on the GBA, such as Black Panther. [2]

The same exact gameplay as in other versions; players can do major upgradings on characters and tactics, as well as build their reputation points.

Exclusive to the GBA version: players can call in a striker, which performs devastating attacks on-screen enemies.

Interactive environments; players can take advantages and use this to track their enemies.

A screenshot from IGN.com profiling Spider-Man showed Deadpool fighting alongside him. The screenshot has since been removed. [9]

Storm also briefly appeared in the newly released The Thing trailer found on the official Marvel website. IGN has also recently released two Storm wallpapers that confirm her status as a playable character and the inclusion of her much anticipated Mohawk costume and a capeless version of her most recent Uncanny X-Men outfit. Why her status as a playable character and two of her many wallpapers were revelead on IGN before the official site is unknown. New screenshots have shown her to be able to ride upon a tornado and summon multiple lightning strikes. Also, a new trailer for her character has been released, confirming her character yet again.

At the VIP section, one of the administrators revealed that some non-playable characters will be unlockable at some point of the game.

Silver Surfer was confirmed by Raven as playable for at least a portion of the game in an interview in the May 2006 issue of Game Informer. The preorder code offered by several retailers is not required to access him in this portion of the game. It was later revealed by IGN that the Silver Surfer would be unlocked after the player had defeated Galactus. [11]

Cyclops, Colossus, Hulk and Gambit are visible as fighters who have been beaten by Dr. Doom in a newly released behind-the-Scenes video. Whether these characters will be only in the cinematics, NPCs or playable/unlockable is still uncertain.

Several screenshots were revealed on a Italian site that revealed Hank Pym and Vision to be in the game. [13] The VIP site has also confirmed these character's inclusion in the game.

Mysterio and Dragon Man have been confirmed in an article of Nintendo Power Magazine. Mysterio was confirmed on the VIP site recently as well. Dragon Man has been confirmed on the official site also.

According to the VIP section of the website, In fact, one of Iron Man’s costumes turns him into a different playable character entirely… if you’ve been clamoring for an exclusive piece of information only the VIPs know, now you have it. Iron Man can become War Machine in the game![14].

An IGN playtest featured a preview of various heroes' alternate costumes, where Beta Ray Bill was confirmed as a costume for Thor, and that Scarlet Spider would be one of Spider-Man's available costumes. In interviews with the developer, it was remarked that Spider-Man will also have the black Symbiote costume. It was also noted that all the characters will have at least four skins. [15] Many of these costumes have been released on the VIP site.

A Worthplaying article confirms Colossus as next gen exclusive, as well as Nova (who is PSP exclusive) and Moon Knight.[16] Colossus was also confirmed as playable by an AMN article and the VIP website.[17]

Moon Knight was confirmed as the second next-gen console exclusive character, as well as having Khonshu as an alternate skin, on the VIP site's forum. [18]

Captain Marvel was mentioned as being playable in an article at GameSpy, however it has yet to be confirmed by other sources and if he is among the generic console cast or if he is a PSP exclusive. [19] He was later confirmed as a PSP exlcusive.[20]

Locations

From the early screenshots and preview provided throughout the early stages and works, certain locations are already confirmed (it is known that there will be more than 17 locales in total). It's important to note that despite the game's title, the game does not take place in the Ultimate universe. Also, there is no word that it definitively takes place in the Earth-616 universe, or the same world as X-Men Legends.